“And do not exalt yourselves against Allah” by arrogantly refusing to worship Him and by lording yourselves over Allah’s servants. “Indeed, I have come to you with clear authority”—that is, with manifest and evident proof, namely the dazzling miracles and compelling evidence he brought. Yet they denied him and plotted to kill him, so he sought refuge in Allah from their evil, saying: “And indeed, I seek refuge in my Lord and your Lord lest you stone me”—that is, lest you kill me in the most brutal manner by stoning me to death.
“But if you do not believe me, then leave me alone.” That is, there are three possible positions for you to take: believe in me—which is what I seek from you—or, if you do not attain this level, then leave me alone, neither opposing nor supporting me, and spare me your evil. Yet they adopted neither the first nor the second position. Rather, they persisted in defiance, rebelling against Allah, waging war against His prophet Moses (peace be upon him), and refusing to let him take his people, the Children of Israel. “So he called upon his Lord, saying, ‘These are indeed a people of evildoers.’” That is, they had committed crimes warranting swift punishment.
Moses (peace be upon him) thus reported their condition to his Lord. This was a supplication made by stating their condition, which is more eloquent than an explicit petition. Similarly, he said of himself: “My Lord, I am truly in need of whatever good You may send down to me.” Allah then commanded him to take His servants on a journey by night and informed him that Pharaoh and his people would pursue them. “And leave the sea as it is.” That is, leave it in its present state. When Moses set out by night with the Children of Israel as Allah had commanded him, Pharaoh pursued them. Allah commanded Moses to strike the sea, and when he struck it, it became twelve paths, with the water between those paths rising like immense mountains. Moses and his people then passed through it.
Once they had emerged, Allah commanded him to leave the sea as it was so that Pharaoh and his soldiers would enter it. “Indeed, they are an army destined to drown.” When all of Moses’ people had emerged from the sea and Pharaoh’s people had entered it, Allah Most High commanded the sea to crash back over them, and they drowned to the last man. They left behind all the worldly pleasures they had enjoyed, and Allah caused the Children of Israel—whom they had enslaved—to inherit them. Hence He said: “How many gardens and springs they left behind, * crops and fine dwellings, * and comforts in which they delighted! * Thus it was, and We gave it as an inheritance”—meaning the aforementioned blessings—“to another people.” In another verse, He says: “Thus it was, and We gave them as an inheritance to the Children of Israel.”
“Neither heaven nor earth wept over them.” That is, when Allah destroyed and annihilated them, neither heaven nor earth wept for them: none grieved over them or lamented their departure. Rather, all rejoiced at their destruction and annihilation—even heaven and earth—for the only legacy they left behind was one that blackened their faces and brought upon them the curse and loathing of all creatures.
“Nor were they granted respite.” That is, they were not given any delay before their punishment; rather, it eradicated them immediately. Allah Most High then reminded the Children of Israel of His favor, saying: “We certainly delivered the Children of Israel from the humiliating torment” in which they had lived, “from Pharaoh,” who slaughtered their sons and spared their women alive. “Indeed, he was arrogant”—that is, he was unjustly arrogant upon the earth—“and one of the transgressors,” who overstepped Allah’s limits and audaciously violated His prohibitions.
“We knowingly chose them”—that is, We selected and favored them, knowing them and knowing that they deserved this distinction—“above all peoples”: the peoples of their own time, as well as those before and after them, until Allah brought forth the nation of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). They then surpassed all other peoples, and Allah made them the best nation ever brought forth for humankind and bestowed upon them favors He had not bestowed upon any others.
“And We gave them”—the Children of Israel—“signs,” consisting of dazzling signs and manifest miracles, “in which there was a manifest blessing.” That is, ⦗774⦘ abundant and evident kindness from Us toward them, as well as proof against them establishing the truth of what their prophet Moses (peace be upon him) had brought them.